On Tuesday we went to a "Talking Turkey" presentation at a nearby state park. My daughter and I spent the whole ride home discussing all the fascinating facts we learned about turkeys, such as:

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the wild turkey to be American's national symbol instead of the bald eagle. This makes some sense because the head of the male turkey is red, white and blue.
• Turkeys have a gizzard to aid in digestion. We have been discussing gizzards ever since and did a later study to see if our pet bird, Weezy, has a gizzard (yes, indeed she does).
• Adult male turkeys are called TOM. A hen is a JENNY. And a young male turkey is a JAKE.
• The wild turkey population was drastically low in the USA in the early 1990s, but since then many turkeys have been reintroduced to the area and now there are millions of wild turkeys throughout America again.
• Turkeys can fly short distances. They roost in trees at night, unless they have eggs in a nest (which they will tend to on the ground).